Rememberance
by Darkangel81
Summary: Max returns, but she is not the same- re-post with some new content
1. Chapter 1

Notes: I wrote that some time ago and had it posted. Now I tried to improve it a little. Hope you like it, lemme know!!!  
  
Disclaimer: The characters belong to James Cameron, I don't own them and don't want to earn money using them (though it would be really cool).  
  
This is a repost, I added some stuff, and I corrected some grammar or spelling mistakes.  
  
**  
  
Rememberance  
  
Logan worked out hard again. The first few weeks after Max's death he had been withdrawn and was lacking all energy and will to do anything. But now he felt like working out was all that kept him from exploding. Bling had warned him, but he couldn't be there all the time and safe Logan from himself.  
  
He felt his arms shake, he worked out until he could hardly accomplish a transfer. But physical exhaustion calmed his mind. He missed Max so badly, the nightmare of how he saw her die still haunted him every time he closed his eyes. "I need you, Max. Oh my god, I can't make it without you."  
  
With shaking arms he managed to move to his chair and wheel over to the bathroom. A shower would hopefully help him cool down and maybe it would help him find some piece- maybe.  
  
Max was constantly on his mind, when he closed his eyes she would await him in his dreams, when he wheeled into the kitchen he would inevitably look at the spot she had always leaned on. He sometimes even caught himself wanting to cook for two people. And every time he painfully reminded himself she wasn't there and was not going to come over again, a piece of his heart broke off. He was not sure how long he could hold on like that.  
  
Even in the shower he was reminded of her, after that disaster with the mud she had been there and had come to the living room, wearing nothing but a towel. Maybe that had been her revenge, letting him see her like that, but then disappearing.  
  
He let out a desperate sigh, he needed her, but he couldn't have her.  
  
Cindy had been over for a visit an hour ago, he was grateful for those frequent meetings. She was the only person in the world who could catch a glimpse of what he felt. He knew she not only came because she wanted to talk about Max, but because she had the feeling she needed to take care of him. He had wanted to tell her, he was fine, but looking in the mirror, he realized that the lie would have been obvious. Besides, he was afraid she would stop visiting. He needed the fragile link to Max he could get through Cindy. She would tell him about the nights out about the fun they used to have. And Logan woudl regert he had never joined them at Crash. But at least there was something he could grasp, even if it were nothing but memories.  
  
**  
  
X-452 came closer to Seattle, somehow the skyline felt familiar. But she knew that couldn't be true. Besides, she wasn't supposed to think about something like that. She had to fulfill a task, and that was to find and extinguish a guy called Eyes-Only. She was a soldier and her job was to do as she was told. She was not supposed to have feelings, or let feelings disturb her mission.  
  
**  
  
Original Cindy stared at the pool tables, she'd just been at Logan's, checking on him. Since Max had died, she'd been there quite frequently. First, they could both find some solace talking about Max, second, she was worried and knew that Max would have wanted her to take care of him, knowing he was still unstable.   
  
Seeing Logan now showed her how much he had really loved Max, and that he hurt a lot more than she did, even though she couldn't imagine how he was able to bear that.  
  
She had tried to talk him into eating something, she had sat there and forced every bite into him. He had looked so exhausted, his once steelblue eyes had been dull with pain and sorrow. It had wrenched her heart to see the handsome guy like that, he apparently hadn't shaved in weeks, his usually spiky, sexy hair had been hanging down, nearly hiding his eyes.  
  
"Hey sista. Up for a game?" Sketchy laid his arm around her. "You need some distraction."  
  
"Yeah, maybe whipping your ass would actually be fun." With that she forced the dark thoughts to the back of her mind, they could wait a couple of hours. There was nothing she could do about it anyway.  
  
**  
  
Logan stared out of the window, rain was falling hard against it. Heaven was crying, it had lost an angel, he thought. Cindy's presence had helped him survive that day, but there was an eternity to go, and he had no idea what would happen the next day, if something would show up that gave him a reason to continue. Maybe it would be better to let go, he would safe himself, Bling and Cindy a lot of trouble. He was nothing but a pathetic cripple who wasn't able to get over the love of his life. God, the love of his life, he had hardly been with her. But he knew it was true, she was everything he had ever searched for.  
  
Suddenly there was a movement on the roof across the street, he sat up a little straighter in his chair, only to sink back again. His mind was playing him tricks. "Oh god Max, I can't stand that anymore."  
  
But he didn't move away from the window, it would have hurt too much, just sitting there was all he could bear right now.  
  
**  
  
X-452 watched the dark apartment, just to make sure that guy was alone. It would be a piece of cake to break in and kill that guy. He was even sitting in a wheelchair, he would not even be able to fight her the slightest bit.   
  
Professionally, she prepared the attack though she didn't understand why it had required her, a genetically engineered soldier, on eof the best actually, to kill a pathetic man like that.  
  
Silently she made her way closer to the penthouse.  
  
**  
  
Logan heard the noise, but dismissed the thought that came to his mind. He was definitely going crazy. But then there was a shadow in the doorway, he saw the reflection in the window. Logan spun his chair around.  
  
"Max?"  
  
The shadow didn't move, so he slowly wheeled closer. "This can't be true."  
  
He'd reached the light switch and turned on the lamp. What he saw made him exhale sharply.  
  
"God, Max. What happened to you? What did they do?" He stared at her in shock, at seeing her again and at what she looked like. There was nothing left of the gentleness in her face.  
  
Her eyes were cold, her features hard and passionless. He knew instantly that that was not going to be a happy reunion. But he was still relieved she was alive.  
  
Without saying a word she moved closer, staring down at the man, eyes full of hate. Logan backed away. "What's going on? Max, what do you want? It's me, Logan." He couldn't believe he was afarid of her, but he was. This was not his Max, this was a soldier.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Eyes Only. I'm afraid we won't have much time to get to know each other." Her voice lacked all feelings, matching her expression.  
  
"Max..." Logan tried.  
  
"It's X-452." She ferociously corrected him.   
  
"No! Wait, please. What the hell have they done to you? Don't do that, give me some time." Logan pleaded. He couldn't believe it, they had brainwashed her and turned her into a killing machine.  
  
"Max. Listen to me. That's not you. You don't want to kill me. Please, try to remember."  
  
"Shut up." She moved even closer and the wall stopped him from moving further away. Logan was stuck.  
  
"Max." His voice trembled. "Listen..."  
  
"I told you to shut up!" She slapped him hard across the face and when the first shock faded he could taste blood. With a shaking hand he wiped it away and stared at it. He felt anger rise within him, even hate. Hate at the folks at Manticore who had turned her into a killing machine.  
  
"I..." Logan didn't relly know what to say.  
  
She hit him again, this time hard enough to make him topple over with his chair, he landed on the floor, banging his head hard against a wooden table leg.   
  
A killing machine was hovering over him. And he felt tears welling up, he wasn't afraid of dying, he just couldn't accept the thought of Max, his beloved Max, killing him. How could they have done that to sweet, gentle Max?  
  
But in this moment the woman in front of him was in fact nothing but X-452, and she was pointing a gun at him.  
  
To be continued...  
  
**  
  
Hope you liked it a little bit. Review!!! 


	2. Chapter 2

"That's not you Max. You can kill me, but you will regret it. Besides, you don't do guns, Max. You always refused to have one..." He continued, not willing to accept the obvious.  
  
Another kick in his stomach followed, high enough for him to feel the pain.  
  
"Give me one minute, Max. Let me explain..." He groaned, she knew how to hurt him. But he fought against the thought that this was the woman he loved, that was NOT her. His Max was buried beneath this soldier, and he had to try to find her before it was too late. If only he had an idea how he could do that, this woman didn't even want to listen.   
  
Logan took a deep breath and winced at the pain that caused, then he helplessly looked up. For the first time, and only for the split of a second their eyes met, and he thought to have seen something familiar there. Maybe there was hope.  
  
**  
  
Max, who was now kneeling in front of her victim looked into the soft blue eyes for the first time, and something made her hesitate. A warm feeling rose from the pit of her stomach. She didn't understand that nor could she place it or the way that guy looked at her. There was no fear for his own life in his eyes, there was something else, and it felt familiar. And somehow she let his words sink in, and something made her listen.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're not a killing machine. Max, you are a human being and they just tricked you into believing something else. Please, try to remember. I know it's hard, but I know that it's still in you. You can't have forgotten about everything we went through."  
  
He saw the change in her expression, it was not recognition, but it was doubt, fear, confusion. Now she might be willing to listen.  
  
"You broke into my apartment almost two years ago, do you remember Bast?"  
  
"The goddess..." Her voice was harsh.  
  
"Right." He struggled to sit up a bit more, but Max tensed again. "Don't move."  
  
"I can't go anywhere, Max." He saw blood dripping from his face, falling onto his crumbled gray sweatshirt and he felt an intense headache build in the back of his head. "I just need a piece of cloths. Please."  
  
But Max didn't move, so he dismissed the idea.  
  
"Have a look around, Max. Doesn't that all seem familiar to you?" He watched her stand up, scanning the room. He felt like he'd have to throw up any minute, the world was spinning slightly.   
  
"Don't you remember all the evenings..." He heard his own voice tremble.  
  
"Cut it out! You're just trying to talk me into something so you can safe your sorry ass!!" She pointed the gun at his sleeve.  
  
"You can kill me, I don't care. My life's not worth living without you, anyway."  
  
"I've never heard that much crap!" Her voice was dripping with hate and that hurt him even more than the kicks he had endured earlier.  
  
"Manticore did that to you, Max. You've fought your entire life to get away from the darkness, don't let it catch up with you. You have moves." He tried to make her remember, tried to use the exact same words he'd used before, maybe that way he could switch the light bulb. But it was getting harder and harder to form coherent thoughts, blackness theatened to engulf him. If he allowed that to happen, he'd lose her forever. So he fought the weariness and dizziness, focussing on Max.  
  
"Go over to the desk, please, and look into the small box." Something in his weak and whispered voice made her trust him. Eyeing him suspiciously she sneaked over to the desk.  
  
Slowly she opened the box and retrieved an amulet. Her voice was barely a whisper. "You mother's locket..."  
  
She turned towards Logan, tears in her eyes. "Oh my god, Logan. I'm sorry."  
  
The locket fell onto the floor along with her gun when she rushed back to him and kneeled down. She hesitated, too afraid he would hate her for what she had just done to him.  
  
"It's Ok, Max. It's not your fault." He smiled weakly and held out his hand. The barrier broke down and she fell into his arms, weeping freely.  
  
"I nearly killed you, oh my god. I nearly killed you."  
  
"Shhh, it's Ok. I'm fine, you didn't do it, that's all that matters."  
  
"But I hurt you." Finally she noticed the blood on her hands. "Are you ok?" She leaned back so she could observe him better.  
  
"A little dizzy. Maybe a slight concussion. But I don't care." He smiled at her. "All that matters is to have you here. I missed you so much, that hurt much more. I thought my heart was breaking, sometimes I could even breathe. I thought I'd lost you for good."  
  
Suddenly Max started to tremble, at first he thought she had a seizure, but then he noticed that she was crying.   
  
"They tortured me, I didn't want to tell them who you were, and they told me I'd never see you again, that they'd killed you. I couldn't bear that thought, it was all my fault. I brought you to this."  
  
"It's OK, Max. It's over now." They lay on the floor, not wanting to let go off each other, afraid that they would wake up and discover it was just a dream.  
  
**  
  
"Logan!!??" The door was slammed shut behind someone. "Where are you?"  
  
"Cindy?" Max let go off Logan.  
  
"Yeah, she's checking on me all the time."  
  
The young woman walked into the room and stopped in the doorway. Her voice was toneless. "Oh my god, Max." She rushed forward and hugged the other girl tight, not really believing that was real.  
  
Then her gaze fell on Logan who was still sprawled on the floor at the exact same spot where he'd fallen out of his chair a couple of hours ago.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Nothing, all is fine. But could you girls please help me over to the sofa?"  
  
Max cradled Logan in her arms while Original Cindy adjusted the cushions on the sofa.  
  
"Are you in pain?"  
  
"My lip feels like it's swollen and my head is killing me. But that will be Ok soon."  
  
He refused to let Max's hand go, so Cindy went to get a wet towel. Then she watched her friend tend Logan's injuries. It was such a scene of love that she decided to leave.  
  
"Listen, you owe me an explanation as soon as the two of you can let go off each other. For now I'll leave you alone. You probably have to catch up." She grinned and got up. "Sleep tight, Logan. And Max, let him get some rest, for all I know he hasn't slept in weeks."  
  
Max nodded and followed her to the door.  
  
"Thanks for taking care. I love you."  
  
"I love you too, boo. I'm so glad you are back, I missed you."  
  
They held each other tight for a long moment before OC left and Max returned to Logan who was trapped on the sofa. His eyes were half-closed, but he was struggling to stay awake.  
  
"I thought I'd never see you again. I love you so much, Max."  
  
"I love you too. More than I ever thought possible."  
  
"Can you get me that box again?"  
  
Max stood up and brought him the box. He opened it with slightly shaking hands and searched a little. "Close your eyes, Max."  
  
He put the box aside and held out a hand. "Ok." A small silver ring danced in front of Max's face when she opened her eyes again.  
  
"Max Guevara. I can't imagine being without you ever again. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"  
  
"Oh my god. Yes, I will marry you. I love you so much!"  
  
He put the ring on her finger, embraced her tight and kissed her passionately.   
  
Finally everything was good again.  
  
THE END  
  
**  
  
Ok, I hope you liked it a bit, I know it's pure romantic fluff. And I hope there are not too many spelling and grammar mistakes. But English isn't my first language. Review!!! 


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